Ag Marke ng Winter 2015 Newsletter Ginger S. Myers Marke ng Specialist University of Maryland Extension (UME) Director, Maryland Rural Enterprise Development Center gsmyers@umd.edu 301 432 2767 x338 Inside This Issue: Create Easy Ways for Customers to Share Word of Mouth Is Your Wri en Business Plan a Useless Document? Updated Guide to USDA Program by SARE Annual Farmers Market Conference Registra on Networking By Ginger S. Myers Building a strong business and professional network can provide the business and support leverage needed to implement your marke ng strategies and grow your business. Business networking is an effec ve, lowcost method for developing sales opportuni es and contacts, sourcing business support Con nued on page 3 Farmers Market and Local Food Promo on Program Grant Wri ng Workshop The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marke ng Service (AMS) and Na onal Ins tute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced a partnership through the Agricultural Marke ng Service Technical Assistance (AMSTA) Project to conduct workshops that will help poten al grant applicants understand, develop, and submit their Federal grant applica ons for the Farmers Market and Local Food Promo on Program. The Maryland workshop will be conducted by Ginger S. Myers on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 from 9 AM to 3 PM at the Maryland Agricultural Resource Center, 1114 Shawan Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030. The cost to a end this workshop will be $20.00 per person to cover the con nental breakfast and lunch. To register you can go online to: h p:/ agmktgrantwri ng.eventbrite.com/ If you have ques ons about the workshop you can contact Ginger S. Myers at 301 432 2767 x338 or by e mail gsmyers@umd.edu The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orienta on, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or na onal origin, marital status, gene c informa on, or poli cal affilia on, or gender iden ty and expression. Los programas del Colegio de Agricultura y Recursos Naturales de la Universidad de Maryland están abiertos a todos y no discriminará contra nadie debido a raza, edad, sexo, color, orientación sexual, discapacidad sica o mental, religión, descendencia, origen nacional, estatus matrimonial, información gené ca, afiliación polí ca, o iden ficación y expresión de género.
Create Easy Ways for Customer to Share Word of Mouth By: Ginger S. Myers, UME Word of mouth referrals and marke ng is s ll one of the most cost effec ve and produc ve forms of marke ng strategies. Consciously develop ini a ves that get happy customers talking. Make it easy for them to share their posi ve impressions. Also, make it easy for exis ng customers to refer their friends, family and colleagues. Some tac cs that can help are: SPECIFICALLY ASK FOR REFERRALS Many customers are willing to give referrals but they are busy. You have to nudge them, without irrita ng them. This could be done in a phone call saying, Glad you re happy feel free to refer any colleagues to us we ll take good care of them. Or send a follow up le er or e mail with a thank you and gentle nudge. By The Numbers PROVIDE REFERRAL CARDS Have a preprinted card your customer can leave with a friend. It helps even to leave behind several business cards so they can hand one to a neighbor who may need your landscaping services. OFFER REFER A FRIEND LINKS ON NEWSLETTERS If you deliver a beau ful e mail newsle er, make it easy for people to share that and at the same me you may gain a new subscriber who eventually may become a customer. These and other tac cs will increase the likelihood of posi ve word of mouth being spread by your exis ng customers. SUGGEST EASY WAYS TO LEAVE TESTIMONIALS Be prepared to suggest quick and rela vely painless ways to give tes monials. If you are a Business to Business (B2B) service provider, then ask people to recommend you on LinkedIn. Or ask them to leave a brief star review on your Facebook Page or Google+ Page. 2
Networking con nued from page 1... Photo: pixabay.com and mentoring, and engaging poten al customers through referrals and introduc ons. Personal networking can help you promote your skill sets and further your career as an entrepreneur. More than ever, building and growing a business means having a presence on the web: websites, social media, e mail, etc. While using web based tools is important for expanding your networks, there is s ll good value in face to face mee ngs. Your business marke ng strategies should include inten onal efforts to develop and expand both your business and professional networks. Here are several quick ps for accomplishing that task. ON LINE 1. Join business network sites like Linked In and keep your profile listed there up to date. Business networking sites are built around making business to business connec ons. When pos ng or responding to post on this site, be sure to request that others give you permission to add them to your online network. 2. Create a Facebook or blog page for your business. Social media tools such as Twi er and Instagram are excellent tools for rapid informa on exchange, but Facebook or blogging allows you to connect with a wider consumer audience than your business to business networks. They provide a pla orm ge ng Your Story out. This can help differen ate your business from your compeon. OFF LINE 1. Exchange business cards with both business and personal contacts. Your business card provides others with a tangible resource for gathering and distribu ng the vital informa on needed to build your contact lists. Whenever appropriate, offer them two of your cards, one for them to keep and one for them to give one of their contacts. 2. Join at least two associa ons, one that is directly related to your type of business and one that a racts a more general business audience such as your local Chamber of Commerce or Service organiza on such as a Kiwanis Club. Networking provides a conduit with others to exchange and develop professional and social contact. Think of your network efforts as building a series of communica ons links for sending and receiving business support and informa on or sending out valuable informa on about your business to others. Crea ng and maintaining good lines of communica on within your networks is as important and developing your contact lists in the first place. 3
Is Your Wri en Business Plan a Useless Document? By: Ginger S. Myers, UME Imagine visi ng New York City for the first me and trying to find your way around without a map. You might find some of the places you want to visit, but not without a lot of detours and lost me. Time you could have spent visi ng sites and enjoying the city. This is exactly what you re doing with your business if you don t have a plan. There is a lot of controversy about the value of a business plan. Comments run from plans are useless to plans are essen al. The real concern should be is your plan useful to you? Make no mistake, if you re applying for financing or a grant, you ll need a formal, wri en business plan. But, for those se ng up their business or who review their business posi on on a regular basis, then your plan can more like a road map to implemen ng your business ideas and measuring your success along the way. This type of a plan, at least in the early stages of your business, should help keep you focused on your goals, serve as a reality check, and help get you back on track if you get distracted. Everything you do in your business will be a test. When you try something that produces good results, you ll keep it. When you do something that doesn t produce, you need to stop doing it. Sounds simple, but a surprising number of businesses keep repea ng a business strategy because its easier, or they don t have another, or they ve convinced themselves it s a good approach with willful disinforma on. Your business map can reflect the same components involved in larger more formal business plans. What are your products? You may have some product ideas or have even started producing and selling products. Some mes while researching and develop Photo: pixabay.com ing a product, the entrepreneur finds that his original product idea is weak or that it doesn t really sa sfy his target customers needs. Time to sack the whole idea, right? Wrong. This is the me to consider a varia on of your product or a different target market. Even smart manufacturers and business professionals can overlook the most desirable a ributes of their product for the buyer. For example, eighty years ago an entrepreneur/inventor tried to market an electric flowerpot which could be lit up at night using a ba ery powered lamp. Only when faced with the challenge of disposing of all his unsold flowerpots did Conrad Hubert think to remove the light tube and sell it as a portable light. He sold so many that he founded the Eveready Flashlight Company. What will you charge for your product? Se ng your price requires knowing who your customers are and what they are willing to spend on products like yours. Pricing is part science and part art in that it has to reflect profit over produc on costs but, also has to consider what the market will bear. Experience running your business over me will give you a much clearer sense of what your profit margins can be and make your financial projec ons much more realis c. Con nued on page 6 4
Updated Guide to USDA Programs Opens Door to Millions of Dollars of Available Funding By: Abby Massey (h p://www.sare.org/newsroom/press Releases/Updated Guide to USDA Programs Opens Door to Millions of Dollars of Available Funding) The USDA has a wide range of financial assistance programs, but finding the right one can be difficult, complicated further by trying to stay up to date with changes in funding following each Farm Bill. Thanks to the newly updated guide Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communi es: A Guide to Federal Programs for Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, Entrepreneurship, Conserva on, Food Systems, and Community Development, producers, researchers, nonprofits and landowners can find programs to help them achieve their goals. Beginning farmers faced with he y start up costs can use the guide to find grants and loans, in addi on to technical assistance. Landowners will find opportuni es to be compensated for par cipa ng in land and energy conserva on programs. And experienced producers looking to conduct research to improve agricultural prac ces can find programs to help foster innova on on their farm. The guide also opens doors for people who have never applied for USDA funding before. "I use this wonderful guide with start up nonprofits all over the country. The guides are especially valuable because most groups I work with aren't familiar with federal programs. It's great having something that's so concise and also helps people understand how to go and look for addi onal resources," says Lorna Donaldson, a Tennessee farmer and na onal sustainable agriculture enterprise consultant. The 86 page guide covers 63 government programs and has been updated to include programs included in the 2014 Farm Bill. Each lis ng provides a descrip on of the program's available resources, informa on on how to apply, and in some cases, examples of how the funding has been used. Addi onally, the guide includes basic informa on on how to design sound projects, find appropriate programs and write grant applica ons. Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communi- es was developed through a partnership between the Michael Fields Agricultural Ins tute (MFAI), the Na onal Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and the Na onal Sustainable Agriculture Coali on (NSAC), with support from SARE and other USDA agencies. The guide was first published in 1997 and this is the 4th update. "Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communi- es provided me with concise, comprehensive, wellorganized and user friendly informa on on federal grant programs," says Mary Holland, a regional food systems entrepreneur who serves the Upper Midwest. To download a free PDF of the guide and to learn how to order hard copies, visit www.sare.org/ building sustainable farms. 5
Annual Maryland Farmers Market Conference Held on March 17 Source: h p://www.marylandfma.org/events/registra on now open for 2015 mda farmers market conference march 17 2/ Registra on is now open for the Annual Maryland Farmers Market Conference to be held on March 17, 2015 from 8:00 am 4:00 pm at the Maryland Department of Agriculture in Annapolis, MD. Come and learn all about the best marke ng ps for your Maryland farmers market, the new and exci ng opportuni es for markets in Maryland, and current regula ons in prepara on for the 2015 season! There will be range of speakers, as well as training and cer fica on for farmers for the WIC FMNP/SFMNP & FVC Programs, Scale Cer fica on, a locally sourced lunch, and opportuni es for networking. Registra on is $30 for the day and includes coffee, fresh breakfast pastries & milk from local farms and a locally sourced catered lunch. It is St. Patrick s Day, so those who come dressed in a green theme will be entered to win a door prize! Is Your Wri en Business Plan a Useless Document? con nued from page 4... Who will do the work? In the beginning you and any family or friends you can coerce into helping you and will probably be both your produc on and sales force. Labor costs can be very daun ng for any small business. Only by having a good handle on your profitability, can you consider hiring addi onal help and as earlier stated, profitability may take some me. The over riding point here is that most start up entrepreneurs just don t have enough good numbers to write a feasible, formal business plan that really can serve as their business map. Space is limited to the first 90 guests who register and submit payment. Deadline for registra on is March 10, 2015. To register go to: h ps://mdamarke ng.wufoo.com/forms/2015 mdfarmers market conference/ The Ag Marketing Newsletter is published periodically by the University of Maryland Extension Agricultural Marketing Program and it is written and edited by Ginger S. Myers, Marketing Specialist and Director of the Maryland Rural Enterprise Development Center. Comments and suggestions regarding the newsletter are always welcome. References to commercial products or trade names are made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by University of Maryland Extension is implied. Articles and photographs can be reprinted with permission. To subscribe: E mail Notification: to be added to our email reflector list., email to listserve@listserv.umd.edu in the body of the message, type subscribe agmarketing name of subscriber (example: subscribe agmarketing Susan Barnes) The real value of a business map is to show you alterna ve routes to reaching your goals. You should develop your map with mul ple op ons, products, prices, and outcomes in mind. Having such a plan will help keep your business on track when challenges arise and help prevent hasty decisions or changes in your core business. It s a way to handle business risks and offer some piece of mind. Armed with a wellused business Map you ll be ready to write a formal business plan that s extremely useful for your business. Online: issues are posted online and can be downloaded for free go to: https://www.extension.umd.edu/publication series/ag marketing newsletter To Unsubscribe: email to listserve@listserv.umd.edu in the body of the message, type Unsubscribe agmarketing name of subscriber (example: unsubscribe agmarketing Susan Barnes) 6